Vancouver Island Technology Park

Photos

File. The Coast Guard vessel Henry Larsen sits in drydock for routine maintenance at Halifax Shipyard. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

By: The Canadian Press

Date: Monday Jun. 27, 2011 5:38 PM PT

Premier Christy Clark made her latest pitch for a British Columbia company’s bid to win $35 billion in federal shipbuilding contracts while standing in a college workshop that may one day help train a new generation of shipbuilders.

Clark chose the trades centre at the Victoria-area campus of Camosun College to announce her government’s support of B.C.’s shipbuilding industry with a $550,000 investment that will help develop an industry-led marine training centre.

Vancouver’s Seaspan Marine Corp. is one of four private companies bidding for the two federal shipbuilding contracts, which will build naval, Coast Guard and other vessels over the next 30 years.

The deadline for the bid is July 7 and the federal government is expected to make its decision within the next two months.

Shipbuilding companies from the East Coast, Ontario and Quebec are also expected to make bids.

“This is a project that will span two generations,” said Clark, who was in Ottawa last week to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other federal officials connected to the shipbuilding contracts.

“It’s a huge deal for British Columbia,” she said. “We will do, and I as your premier will do what it takes, to make sure we get our share of this national procurement program for British Columbia. It means an additional 6,800 job openings in B.C.”

Clark said the B.C. government backs Seaspan’s bid and she suggested there could be more shipping-related announcements before the bid deadline.

She said the government funding, provided through the federal-provincial Labour Market Development Agreement, will train workers for the shipbuilding industry even if Seaspan does not win the federal contracts.

“We can’t do this alone,” Clark said. “We are partners with Seaspan, BC Ferries and the Vancouver Island Technology Park, the B.C. Marine Workers and Boilermakers Union, Camosun College, First Nations, and, of course, also the federal government.”

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By: The Canadian Press

Date: Thursday Jun. 23, 2011 1:56 PM PT

Andrew A. Duffy, Postmedia News · Jun. 20, 2011 | Last Updated: Jun. 21, 2011 12:57 PM ET

The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific (HCP) was established in 1979, largely driven by the mayor of the time, Mel Couvelier. The vision was to create a locally-treasured, world class centre of horticulture education. The mandate remains the same today: to enrich our community by sharing the beauty and joy of gardening, and by demonstrating the importance of plant diversity to life in our world.

The community’s thirst for knowledge and mentorship on sustainability, food security and urban gardening make the skills and resources HCP has to offer more relevant than ever. Our College courses are growing, community courses expanding and the demand is increasing for children’s tours and programs.

This is their Challenge…

In the early morning hours of February 16 a fire destroyed HCP iconic Glasshouse, Head Gardener’s office and equipment rooms. Already bursting at the seams with space limitations for courses, community groups and office space, the loss of the facilities make it difficult to maintain operations and impossible to expand.

Gone is the facility most used by our community for wedding receptions and plant exhibits and with that our ability to raise revenues to be financially sustainable. Gone is the additional space needed for our burgeoning student population. We are a teaching garden without a community facility.

The Glasshouse did have its limitations. It was a 1970’s structure that was too cold to use in the winter and too hot in the summer. There was not adequate storage, kitchen or bathroom facilities to allow us to maximize it as classroom space or use it for community events. The audio-visual capabilities were too limiting to utilize the space for conferences, corporate meetings and classroom presentations.

To use the insurance funds of $200,000 to replace it with the same structure would be a missed opportunity. HCP needs a modern, four-seasons facility that can accommodate College courses, club meetings, plant exhibits, weddings, corporate meetings, and even community recreation programs such as Tai Chi.

To build such a facility will need more funds than the $200,000 insurance money.

Wanted: a modern all-season facility!

Their Solution

They are fundraising to replace the destroyed building with a 250 square metre multi-purpose, four-season facility that can accommodate the need to increase classroom space along with the need for the community for additional facilities for meetings, recreation and special events.

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(Victoria, BC – May 24, 2011). The 6th Annual Canary Derby takes place on Saturday, June 18 from 11 am to 5 pm at the Vancouver Island Technology Park. The Derby brings the BC technology community, the Canary Foundation of Canada and the BC Cancer Foundation together in a thrilling soapbox derby, with each team pledging to raise money to support the early detection of cancer. Soapbox cars are built by corporate or private teams and are unpowered, relying completely upon gravity.

Since 2006 the Canary Derby has raised over $520,000 in Victoria – this year the event has a goal of $85,000, with the net proceeds used to assist three full-time researchers at the BC Cancer Agency’s Deeley Research Centre in Victoria. This research will be dedicated to early ovarian, prostate, pancreatic and lung cancer detection.

“The earlier we detect cancer, the better we are at curing it. That’s why we’re working so hard to develop new blood tests for cancer. The support the technology community is giving through the Canary Soapbox Derby and other efforts throughout the year to the BC Cancer Foundation, is truly phenomenal and we are very grateful,” said Dr. Brad Nelson, Director of the BC Cancer Agency’s Deeley Research Centre.
Dr. Nelson is a member of the international Canary Science Team, a group of top U.S.-Canada researchers who are collaborating on leading-edge early detection cancer research.

Dale Gann, Chair of the 2011 Victoria Canary Derby & President of the Vancouver Island Technology Park, has been involved with the derby since its inception in 2005. “I am very excited to see the success of the Canary Derby grow and contribute to research in Victoria that will one day yield a test for early cancer detection. With the community’s support, we can positively impact the progress of cancer research in British Columbia,” says Gann.

The Canary Foundation invites businesses to enter a team or to sponsor the event. Registered teams will be invited to tour the BC Cancer Agency’s Deeley Research Centre and attend an informative fundraising session on Tuesday, May 31 at 5 pm. Teams can register at www.canaryderby.com/victoria.

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The Canary Derby provides an opportunity for Vancouver Island Companies to join forces with the Canary Foundation and BC Cancer Foundation to help support early detection of cancer research within BC.

Join us at the Vancouver Island Technology Park on Saturday for a fun filled day of laughs, BBQ, Kids zone, beer garden, and live music!

The soapbox cars start racing at 1100 hrs.

The Victoria Derby is comprised of two race categories and this year has introduced an exciting RC Car Race!

The radio/remote controlled (RC) car section of the Canary Derby is open to new and existing teams and organizations that want to get involved with the Canary Derby.

Digital content delivery service expands U.S. presence to Silicon Valley and NYC

San Francisco, CA May 4, 2011 – Newsroom content delivery service, SendtoNews Video Inc. (SendtoNews.com) is pleased to announce the opening of its San Francisco – Silicon Valley office on May 4, 2011. To officiate the event, Ms. Cassie Doyle, Consul General of Canada San Francisco/Silicon Valley will be in attendance. The office is located at the Canadian Technology Accelerator inRocketSpace, a shared workspace for digital media companies in San Francisco.

“As one of the fastest growing multimedia news distribution services on the Internet, it was a natural progression for us to establish a base in the U.S. technology capital,” said SendtoNews Chairman Art Aylesworth.

“We would like to thank trade commissioner Michael Wozniak and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in San Francisco for their assistance during our expansion into the Bay Area.”

Based in British Columbia, SendtoNews Video Inc. entered the international spotlight at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, where its high speed file transfer technology powered the state-of-the-art media distribution system used by more than 1,450 reporters at the British Columbia International Media Centre (BCMC).

SendtoNews launched its technology platform in the U.S. on April 11 at the 2011 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) tradeshow in Las Vegas. There, it also unveiled its new iPhone mobile application, which delivers full resolution 720P video from an iPhone 4 directly to local, national and international newsrooms at up to 3 times faster than normal 3G transfer speed.

SendtoNews also plans to announce an east coast presence in New York City in the near future. Newsrooms using SendtoNews include ABC, FOX, NBC and dozens of affiliates across the U.S.

About SendtoNews

SendtoNews is a conduit between content creators and newsrooms/assignment editors looking for high quality, newsworthy content to use as part of daily programming. SendtoNews offers its clients the opportunity to share their stories (including one or more HD videos, high-resolution photos, audio files, etc.) directly with print, television, radio and online newsrooms by uploading them to the Company’s cloud-based news story management platform. SendtoNews then automatically optimizes the stories for fast preview and easy use by news editors and tracks usage so clients can monitor their local, national and international media coverage.

SendtoNews’ current customers include news media, law enforcement agencies, governments, universities and sports organizations. SendtoNews gives every level of content creator immediate and

simultaneous access to North American newsrooms from anywhere in the world. SendtoNews is a privately held software company founded by Keith Wells, a former television anchor for more than 20 years. For more information on how to open a free account go to SendtoNews or call toll free 1.855.590.1991. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

VIDEO B-ROLL / PHOTOS AVAILABLE VIA SendtoNews can be viewed by clicking on the link

MEDIA CONTACT:

David Davies

Toll Free 1.855.590.1991

E-mail: david.davies@sendtonews.com

Twitter: @sendtonews

Web: www.sendtonews.com

If you love both new and old school rock performed LIVE, and also get a thrill out of helping people in need, then you’re going to want to unleash your air guitar for this awesome POWER TO ROCK charity event in support of Power To Be.

POWER TO ROCK is an upcoming live music charity event co-sponsored by RevenueWire and Strathcona Hotel, featuring performances by local Victoria rock legendsBad Monkey, Scott Valentine of The Black Hat Villains, and killer original indy artists The New Colors.

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE.

All proceeds from the concert go to Power To Be, a nationally recognized organization that provides dynamic outdoor education programs for adults and families facing significant life challenges.

Event Name: POWER TO ROCK

Date & Time: Thursday, April 28^th – Doors open at 8pm

Venue: Club 9one9, 919 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC   (www.club9one9.ca )

Bands: Scott Valentine of Black Hat Villain, Bad Monkey, The New Colors

Tickets: $15 in advance ($20 at the door – so get your tickets early!)

On Facebook: Power To Rock

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Dress down, rock out, and come enjoy the show. You will be supporting a great cause!

Rock on!

Recent University of Victoria graduates and siblings, Ashley and Robert Roulston at Reef Safe Fish have developed a closed loop waste-recycling technology that filters fish waste and then combines it with fertilizer to produce fish food onsite. It is proving to be a viable technology as they have been gaining ground in the Greater Victoria technology community.  After presenting at the VIATeC Launch Party February 3, 2011 and winning “Best in Show” they continued onto the BCIC-NVBC Regional Competition Finals to take to home $30,000 for first prize.

Last Thursday, more than 100 members of BC’s technology community gathered in Kelowna at an invite-only event to celebrate the three early-stage technology companies taking top honours at the inaugural BCIC-New Ventures Competition: Regional Awards Ceremony.

Photo: Danny Robinson, BCIC; Jonathan Bowers, Memory Leaf; Kerith Perreur-Lloyd, SideStix; Sarah Doherty, SideStix; Ashley Roulston, Reef Safe Fish; and Bob de Wit, New Ventures BC

The broad spectrum of innovative technologies from the 17 finalists included a mobile monitoring system for people working alone, an online service that provides environmental product info, and a portable biosensor to detect bacteria in drinking water.

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February 21, 2011 (Victoria) – Vigil Health Solutions Inc. (“Vigil”) announces the results of operations for the quarter ending December 31, 2010.

Business highlights

• Profit of $24 thousand compared to a loss of $222 thousand in the period ended December 31, 2009.
• Increased revenue 63% to $1.13 million from $695 thousand in the three-months ended December 31, 2009.
• Achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, of $68 thousand (or $0.014 per share) compared to a loss of $219 thousand in the period ended December 31, 2009.
• Grew bookings 28% to $913 thousand from $712 thousand in the three-month period ended December 31, 2009.

“We are pleased the Company achieved profitability given the still challenging economic climate.  We are encouraged to see improvements in the overall economy, and hope that we will see positive change in seniors housing lending and the United States housing market as we believe this will stimulate renewed growth in senior housing construction.” stated Troy Griffiths, President and CEO of Vigil Health Solutions Inc.

Financial Results

Revenue for the three-months ended December 31, 2010 was $1.13 million compared to $695 thousand in the three-month period ended December 31, 2009. Project revenue made up 73% of total revenue; the remaining revenue came from follow on sales to existing customers.  These sales include service and maintenance billings and replacement products including wireless devices, sensors and communication equipment and were up 30% over the same period in fiscal 2010.  Bookings for the quarter were $913 thousand up 28% compared to $712 thousand in the three-month period ended December 31, 2009.  Sales continue to be affected by the lack of credit available to new construction in the seniors housing market; however, bookings in the first three quarters are showing improvement from those seen in the latter part of fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.

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